Examining Wastewater Treatment Struggles in Lowndes County, AL

Many poor, rural Americans currently live without access to basic wastewater treatment, raising sobering environmental justice and public health issues. Recent research found a 34.5% incident rate of N. americanus (hookworm) within vulnerable populations of Lowndes County, Alabama, a disease spread through contact with soils exposed to human fecal matter. Working with the Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise (ACRE), I seek to assess likely predictors of seeing raw sewage on the ground, as well as broadly define the scale and scope of the struggles with wastewater treatment faced by Lowndes County. My analysis relies on an EPA funded community survey conducted by ACRE and community volunteers in 2011-2012. Approximately 2,450 households (~ 56% of households countywide) were interviewed in person about sanitation conditions in their home and on their property. Four main types of wastewater disposal methods were identified—full sewer connection, settling tank connected to sewer, septic systems, and straight pipes (lack of any treatment). While 92% of the county reported being served by a municipal drinking water utility, only 21.8% were served by a sewer system. As expected, residents that used straight pipes to dispose of their wastewater were ~36 times more likely than residents connected to a full sewer to report raw sewage on the ground. Additionally, those whose septic or settling tanks were not operating properly were ~35 times more likely to see raw sewage. This includes residents served by Hayneville’s wastewater utility, as they use a hybrid lagoon system, with settling tanks on each property. Improving sanitation and reducing exposure to raw sewage in Lowndes County requires addressing both private household needs as well as the municipal utilities with failing infrastructure.